Clarence Williams and Spencer Williams were not related although they were both born in New Orleans a few years apart (1898 and 1889, respectively). Clarence was not only a pianist who accompanied many of the blues singers such as Ethel Waters, Bessie Smith, and his wife Eva Taylor on their recordings, but he led his own band which occasionally included Louis Armstrong and Sidney Bechet.

He was also an astute business man, a music publisher, and an entrepreneur whose credits as a composer have often come into question. “Williams dominated the blues industry in the 1920s....[His] name is on many good songs, usually sharing credit with a better songwriter....Williams seems to have been the leading proponent of the cut-in, the composer quid for the publisher quo,” say David A. Jasen and Gene Jones in their book Spreadin’ Rhythm Around: Black Popular Songwriters, 1880-1930.

Jasen and Jones go on to say, “The unknowns and the masters all struck their bargains with Williams for the same reason: he would publish their songs and then plug them every way to Sunday. His genius was for promotion, not composition....Clarence Williams published three Spencer Williams songs--and shared writer credit on them in 1919. Each was a hit and each was a gem of songwriting craft.” In addition to “Royal Garden Blues” they collaborated on “I Ain’t Gonna Give Nobody None o’ This Jelly Roll” and “Yama Yama Blues.”

Clarence is credited on “Squeeze Me” (for which Andy Razaf claimed lyric credit), “West End Blues” (a Joe Oliver tune for which Williams later took credit as co-writer), “I Wish I Could Shimmy Like My Sister Kate” (which Louis Armstrong claimed to have written), and “Baby Won’t You Please Come Home?” (a top jazz standard written with Charles Warfield who disputed Williams’ contribution). But in all fairness to Clarence, he enjoyed many collaborations that were not disputed and wrote some songs of his own such as “Sugar Blues.”

Although written in 1919 “Royal Garden Blues”’ didn’t really catch on until 1921 when it charted twice: The Original Dixieland Jazz Band (led by cornetist Nick La Rocca, composer of “Tiger Rag”) took it to third place with vocalist Al Bernard. The version by Mamie Smith and Her Jazz Hounds reached number thirteen. Bix Beiderbecke also famously recorded it, and it entered the repertoire of several big bands such as Tommy Dorsey’s and Benny Goodman’s in the thirties.

The tune was named for the Royal Garden Dance Hall in Chicago where King Oliver’s Creole Jazz Band performed and where Beiderbecke frequently hung out. The song was first recorded in 1920 by the George Morrison Jazz Orchestra out of Denver, Colorado, and was quickly picked up by blues singers Mamie Smith, Daisy Martin, and Ethel Waters.

Jasen and Jones say that “‘Royal Garden Blues’ is perhaps the first popular song based on a riff. (This is a melody that achieves its effect from a repetitive rhythm, rather than from an interesting sequence of notes. ‘Twelfth Street Rag’ and ‘In the Mood’ are examples of riff-based writing.) ...[It] is an indomitable romp, impossible to deliver offhandedly; its heat is built-in. It is made of two twenty-four bar strains cleverly joined by a four-bar ‘belt’ that allows for a tempo shift between the two main themes. The first theme is lazy and its harmony--but not its melody--is dotted with blue notes. After the four-bar breather, the rat-a-tat riff cuts loose. The melody of the second strain spans only six notes, and it bursts with energy.”

Our historian for JazzStandards Chris Tyle recorded the tune on his 1995 CD Chris Tyle’s Silver Leaf Jazz Band. “One little bit of info on our recording,” says Chris, “is that it was taken from the original published stock arrangement, so it’s a bit different than the way bands generally play it, with the middle section a series of breaks for the front-line instruments, usually trumpet, clarinet, trombone.”

- Sandra Burlingame

Music and Lyrics Analysis

The slangy lyric, credited to both Clarence and Spencer, touts the infectious nature of the music played at the Royal Garden:

Jon Hendricks wrote a new lyric for the song which Hendricks & Company perform on Love (1982). He first lists the celebrated artists who performed at the Royal Garden and then describes the blues that they played:

Blues teach you how to pat your feet,Blues teach you how to cuff your pant,Blues teach you how to feel the beat,Blues everybody understand.Blues teach you how to pay them dues,Them Chicago blues.

Sandra Burlingame

Jazz History Notes

Although the 1927 version by cornetist Bix Beiderbecke is not the first jazz recording of this warhorse, it certainly stands out as one of the best of the early versions. Bix and his gang are in relaxed form, and Bix’s cornet playing is superb.

Benny Goodman’s 1940 sextet version is a perfect example of how a performance can build to an exciting climax. Sparked along by powerful muted trumpet work by ex-Duke Ellington sideman Cootie Williams and electric guitar pioneer Charlie Christian, clarinetist Goodman soars above the ensemble’s riffs.

Edmond Hall, a clarinetist whose biting, torrid approach graced many a session during the 1940s and ‘50s, assembled an outstanding group of swing musicians for a 1943 Blue Note date. Originally issued on a 12-inch 78 rpm record, there’s beautiful work by trumpeter Sidney DeParis, trombonist Vic Dickenson, pianist James P. Johnson and clarinetist Hall. Drummer Sid Catlett’s intuitive playing illustrates his masterful touch.

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